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The ultimate goal of this project is to develop rapid, specific, and sensitive
biosensor-based assays for diverse pathogenic bacteria which can be widely adopted in
applications ranging from simple field tests to high speed, high throughput
laboratory screening assays. To meet this goal, several objectives will be pursued:
<ol>
<li>
Develop specific, high affinity biorecognition reagents for food-borne pathogens
and toxins.
<li>
Develop rapid and effective means to separate and concentrate targeted pathogens
without carryover of background organisms.
<li>
Develop integrated assay systems based on multiple target biosensor platforms.</ol>
Approach:
The primary objective of the proposed research is to develop biosensor processes thatare capable of detecting multiple pathogens of food safety and food security concern.
<P>
We plan to concentrate our research on a few selected pathogens: E. coli O157:H7,
Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and Yersinia spp. Unless otherwise indicated, all
experiments conducted with cells of Y. pestis or other biosafety level 3 (BSL3)
pathogens will be conducted in house using non-virulent BSL2 surrogate strains.
Collaborative arrangements have been made for evaluation of the developed methods
with virulent strains. Methods will generally be developed with culture media as the
sample matrix, and then extended to food samples containing the target pathogen. The
efficacy of developed methods will be primarily tested in ground beef, ready-to-eat
meats and liquid eggs. Modification of the plan to include other pathogens and foods
will be determined by ARS needs. To facilitate the progress of planned research, we
will seek useful advice and/or input from our colleagues in other Research Units at
the Eastern Regional Research Center (ERRC).